Book of Days Tales

The second Saturday in November is Arbor Day in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Here is a classic dish, hong am Rèisleck, using Riesling, a wine made from varietal grapes in a number of regions including Luxembourg where they make up 12% of the vineyards in the country.

Ingredients

3 oz (6 tbsp) butter, divided
1 (4-5 pound) chicken, cutinto 8 pieces
6 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 ½ fl oz (3 tbsp) Cognac or Sherry
1 cup Riesling wine
⅓ cup chicken stock
6 oz mushrooms sliced
1 tbsp flour
4 fl oz heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
small handful parsley, roughly chopped
1 tbsp minced chervil
wide flat noodles, for serving

Instructions

Heat half of the butter in a large, wide pan with deep sides over high heat until melted. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the hot pan, skin side down. Sauté until the skin has browned, then flip over. If your pan isn’t large enough to hold all of the chicken at once, do this in two batches, removing the first batch to a plate and returning it with the juices it has released back to the pan before the next step. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, and continue to sauté for another minute or two.

Carefully add the Cognac to the pan and allow it to almost evaporate. Add the Riesling and chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, and allow it to continue for about 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

While this is cooking, put the remaining butter into a pan and sauté the mushrooms until they just begin to turn golden in spots. Add them to the pan with the chicken. Whisk together the flour, heavy cream, and egg yolk; pour over and around the chicken while stirring/moving everything around, and immediately turn off the heat. Season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed, and a few grates of fresh nutmeg. Stir in the parsley and chervil.

Serve hot over hot buttered noodles with vegetables of the season.